"All over the country the left-wing newspapers don't know what to say about the current violence in the Middle East. They can't condemn Israel because that country was attacked. They can't praise Hezbollah; that would be economic suicide. But I'm tired of the terror war being used as a political football on both sides, I just want to defeat the terrorists. In order to do that America has to come together, and we're not together, we're a divided nation when it comes to the war on terror. You have three camps: the "blow the hell out of them" camp, the "it's all America's fault" camp, and the "I don't want to hear about it" camp. Those people who don't want to know about the terror war can make all the difference. If you could convince them that they are in danger, which they are, you could mobilize a lot of public opinion and those who are undermining the terror war would be in a bad place. But truthfully it is depressing to pay attention to the terror war. Who wants to see Israel and Lebanon being blown up? Who wants to see dead bodies coming back from Iraq? Who wants to hear about nutty Iranians threatening the world? How can we defeat terrorists if the American people refuse to pay attention? That is the harsh reality we are facing in the summer of 2006."

Former Green Beret Major Bob Bevelacqua offered a new view of the crisis in the Mid-East. He said he wanted Israel "to tone it down, show some restraint, use acceptable, graduated responses to hostilities. They just jumped in with both feet really hard. When you take out the road system and bridges, the airport, the ports, gas stations, you really affect a very small country, which is Lebanon, the majority of which is centered around and in Beirut. You affect that population of the civilian sector." The Factor thought Israel needed to show strength: "Now, if I'm the Israeli commander, I'm going to take this opportunity to kill as many Hezbollah as I can. To wipe out as much of their arsenal as I can. If I'm Israel, I'm sending a message to Syria, to Iran. I think that's part of the psychology here as well. The message is you guys continue this. This is going to happen in Damascus and Tehran. The same thing you're seeing in Beirut, is going to happen there. And I think that's part of the psychology here, because the Israelis have always been the iron fist."

FOX News correspondent Shepard Smith saw a little action earlier today when he was caught in the middle of a rocket attack in the Israel town of Nahariya. Shepard explained what happened: "We were driving through to go to another interview. Suddenly, the rockets started coming in. And we could see smoke in the distance, so we ran over there. The rescue personnel were there. And within a few minutes, they heard the noise of another one being launched on the other side of the border. So the authorities screamed to hit the deck, there's another rocket incoming. And sure, enough another boom. On that one, nobody got hurt. We went to four of those scenes. And three of those times, they'd fire, three minutes later, waiting for the medics to get there, and then fire again. One person was killed, two others injured in Nahariya alone today." The Factor asked, "Do you have any idea how effective the Israelis are being in dismantling these rockets, attacking the weapons sites?" To which Shepard replied: "You know, the feeling, actually, if you talk to the people who live in these towns they don't see any evidence of that. Nahariya got hit really hard on Friday. Got hit again really hard on Saturday. And then today, 14 more times. If they're taking them out, then there's a lot of back-up."

In San Francisco, an organization called Jewish for Voice for Peace sponsored a demonstration against the Israeli action in Lebanon. 17 people were arrested for blocking traffic and other non-violent misdemeanors. Mitchell Plitnick, Policy Director of Jewish Voice for Peace and organizer of the protest, said it was important to distinguish between the action in Lebanon and the situation in Gaza. "Hezbollah is a militia group in Lebanon. Israel is not currently in occupation of Lebanon. Hasn't been for six years. So there's a difference between their actions and Hamas. Are they terror groups? Of course they employ terrorism. And we certainly oppose that. They're clear crimes. We don't argue with that, but we do think there is a difference when you have a situation of military occupation and when you don't." The Factor responded, "It seems to me that Israel has tried to normalize relations with the Palestinians. It seems the Israeli people want peace, yet the other side has sworn to kill all Jews. And you are siding, it seems to me, with the other side." Plitnick said his group tried to defend civilians regardless of what country they come from: "The thing that we support is the people of Israel, the people of the Palestinian territories, the people of Lebanon. But Israel should not be doing is hitting Lebanon, killing 240 people, almost all of them civilians."

Massie Ritsch, of the Center for Responsive Politics, explained the rise of left-wing think tanks: "They were losing time and time again on the issue front, on the idea front, because they didn't have the think tanks, the policy groups, the advocacy groups, the training for young leaders of the Democratic Party that the Republicans had. So they very quickly raised this money to compete." The Factor described what a new group, Democracy Alliance, requires of its wealthy donors. "In order to even get in this group, you've got to pay $25,000 right away. Then $30,000 a year in dues. And then promise to give $200,000 annually to far left groups." Ritsch said that was "a heavy obligation." But the Factor though that didn't go nearly far enough: "A heavy obligation? This is the Mafia. These are groups designed to assassinate characters. These are assassins. These are character assassins. This is the left-wing Mafia."

The Factor asked Laura Ingraham for her opinion on the situation in Lebanon: "Two guests on the program this evening have made the same point, that bombing bridges, bombing inner cities in Beirut, bombing civilians, for no defined reason, will turn moderate Arabs against Israel, and Israel should stop that immediately. What do you say?" Ingraham's take: "I think this is the nature of this type of warfare. It's very difficult. They have their intelligence and they know where these sites are. They have to destroy them. And I think sooner or later, we're going to have to deal with this Hezbollah threat. Israel is our proxy right now in the Middle East. And Hezbollah is Iran's proxy. But I'd rather have Israel on my side any day. The Factor chastised the left wing press: "Pretty interesting that the left-wing newspapers pretty much don't know what to say about this." Ingraham agreed: "You don't want to immediately identify yourself with Hezbollah at this juncture. But who knows? Sometimes I read "The Nation" and I can't tell whether it's coming straight from Al Jazeera or from an American web site."

Supermodel Christie Brinkley has been embarrassed by her fourth husband, architect Peter Cook, who apparently had an affair with a 19-year-old girl named Diana Bianchi. The woman spoke exclusively with Rosanna Scotto, who anchors FOX 5 News in New York City. Scotto had this to say of Bianchi: "She never really used the word "victim." What she said right now is that she's scared. And I think she's scared because the media is camped out outside of her door." The Factor had heard that Bianchi might sue Cook, and for an answer on that, turned to criminal defense attorney Mercedes Colwin. "Let's say they bring a lawsuit. If it does, the court is going to say, first of all this is a consensual relationship. She's the age of consent. She's certainly old enough. She accepted all these gifts." The Factor agreed. "I don't see any tort here. If she goes on television and says all this stuff, it just makes it worse, I mean, as far as exposure. What her parents should have done was sent her to Portugal or someplace and got her out of there."

Tom Woodley, Queensland, Australia: "The difference between the Israelis and the terrorists is simple. Take the weapons away from Hezbollah and Hamas, peace settles in. Take the weapons away from Israel, the Jews are slaughtered."

And on the culture war...

Aaron Verdock, Falls Church, VA: "Mr. O, what does the decline in American marriages have to do with secularism? Will you please stop pushing your right-leaning view on America?"

Richard Krol, Black Hawk, SD: "So the progressive media's message is harming marriage? Of course the free market economy has nothing to do with our current slavery to consumerism?"

Jessica White, Hilo, HI: "Mr. O'Reilly, I totally agree with you about the media. I don't see any TV programs that promote happy families anymore."

Book Mentions

Check out the books mentioned during this show.

Major Bob Unvarnished: Why We Keep Making The Same Mistakes
by Bob Bevelacqua